Saturday, June 30, 2007
Correction: The Dazzlers
Apparently, Jim's softball team is called the Dazzlers (AH HAH HAH HA H HAH HAH HAH!!) and the other team was called the GUZZLERS. Sorry for the confusion.
Antony Gormley with a Hungarian twist
Yesterday was Friday, so we decided to meet after work and go do something fun. We arranged a meeting place near Waterloo station and then headed to a nearby gallery to see the Antony Gormley exhibit, which our friend Vlad had highly recommended. Gormley is focused on the human form and makes casts of his body, which he then arranges in various forms and puts in various places. The most interested part of this exhibit were the sculptures that he placed on top of buildings that were within a mile or so of the gallery.
Some buildings with sculptures on them:
Inside of the building were more sculptures, but the highlight for us was a room called "Blind Light." It was a clear box filled with fog, in which we wandered around, groping blindly to find our way to other people or to the walls. Here is Jim inside blind light:
And then I got in trouble for taking pictures, but that didn't stop us. After all, no one could really see us while we were inside of blind light. So here we both are inside of blind light:
It was so humid inside that we both got small afros and I had to keep wiping off my glasses. A few minutes into our time in Blind Light, we groped some random guy (you really could only see about six inches in front of you) and then then three of us followed the wall to find our way back to the entrance/exit. Then we did it all again (minus the random guy groping part).
There were two car bombs found yesterday in Central London, but that didn't seem to be stopping anyone from having a good time and yesterday evening there were lots of people out celebrating the lack of rain, the Gay Pride Parade and....Canada Day? We stumbled upon a Canada Day concert in Trafalgar Square, where an African Reggae/Rap group was playing...that didn't seem to be super Canadian to us, but what do we know about Canada.
We continued our wanderings into Soho and eventually ended up at a Hungarian restaurant (it was a very multicultural day) where we sampled chilled cherry soup. I wasn't really sure what to think about chilled cherry soup, but my chicken paprika pancakes were DELICIOUS and HEARTY.
Here I am looking not so excited about chilled cherry soup:
After dinner, stuffed and tired, we took the 139 back home again and Jim didn't even leave anything on the bus! It was a good night.
Some buildings with sculptures on them:
Inside of the building were more sculptures, but the highlight for us was a room called "Blind Light." It was a clear box filled with fog, in which we wandered around, groping blindly to find our way to other people or to the walls. Here is Jim inside blind light:
And then I got in trouble for taking pictures, but that didn't stop us. After all, no one could really see us while we were inside of blind light. So here we both are inside of blind light:
It was so humid inside that we both got small afros and I had to keep wiping off my glasses. A few minutes into our time in Blind Light, we groped some random guy (you really could only see about six inches in front of you) and then then three of us followed the wall to find our way back to the entrance/exit. Then we did it all again (minus the random guy groping part).
There were two car bombs found yesterday in Central London, but that didn't seem to be stopping anyone from having a good time and yesterday evening there were lots of people out celebrating the lack of rain, the Gay Pride Parade and....Canada Day? We stumbled upon a Canada Day concert in Trafalgar Square, where an African Reggae/Rap group was playing...that didn't seem to be super Canadian to us, but what do we know about Canada.
We continued our wanderings into Soho and eventually ended up at a Hungarian restaurant (it was a very multicultural day) where we sampled chilled cherry soup. I wasn't really sure what to think about chilled cherry soup, but my chicken paprika pancakes were DELICIOUS and HEARTY.
Here I am looking not so excited about chilled cherry soup:
After dinner, stuffed and tired, we took the 139 back home again and Jim didn't even leave anything on the bus! It was a good night.
The Bad News Bears of Britain
On Thursday, I was witness to one of the most hilarious spectacles of all times: Jim's softball team.
In England, softball is called "Rounders" and the rules are slightly different than in America. I'm not exactly sure of all of the details of the differences, but I did noticed that if you even touch the ball, whether it goes out of the batter's box or not, you can run (instead of it being a foul). There are also some different rules about stealing bases. Whatever the difference, softball in the UK rocks in my opinion.
Anyway, I wandered over to Regent's Park to cheer Jim and his team on. I was the team's only fan and I was meant to be there to give them lots of support, but, unfortunately I found myself laughing really hard at their antics and I don't think I was that supportive at all. Once I accidentally cheered for the wrong team, which is an honest mistake.
Jim's team(not sure what their name is. We will call them the Bad News Bears of Briton- BNBB-for the purposes of this blog) was playing the "Dazzlers," who were a group of artists. The Dazzlers were getting ready for the game by drinking mass quantities of beer and smoking some cigarettes. When I arrived, fifteen minutes after the game was to have started, only three people from BNBB were there. They had been warming up for about 45 minutes and thirty minutes later the rest of the team finally straggled in citing tube troubles.
Unfortunately for the BNBB, things were not looking good. Grounders are not their strong point...and neither is hitting...or catching pop-ups. The Dazzlers, though, really dazzled with a series of cricket-style hits that went through several BNBB legs and a few more hits that caused some near collisions on the field amongst the BNBB. Then, a couple of the Dazzlers had a collision, as one of their runners didn't realize she could keep going after third and her teammate didn't realize she had stopped. They proceeded to both run to home at the same time, stumbled over a bat, and then fell crashing into the middle of all the BNBB backpacks. Meanwhile, one of the BNBB players was injured and lying on the ground. Her teammate, threw a midirected foul back towards the field and missed her head by about an inch.
When the Dazzlers took to the field, things started to look up for the BNBB. The third baseman, donning plaid pants, shaggy hair, and a green shiny jacket, smoked a cigarette and drank a beer as he waited for the runners to come through. The two coaches got into some heated arguments and, at one point, one of the Dazzlers hit a foul, which one of the BNBB (a rugby player in real life) moved to catch. The Dazzler subtly pushed the rugby player so that he missed the ball and the rugby player, in turn, TACKLED the Dazzler batter on his way to first. The fan was ROLLING on the sidelines. This was, by far, the best softball game I have ever watched. I think everyone should play softball like they do in England!
Sadly, the BNBB lost, but not as badly as I had predicted! And afterwards, both teams went out for some pints.
The Bad News Bears of Britain out in the field:
The Dazzlers at bat. This was the guy who was soon to be tackled by the BNBB rugby player (stationed behind him):
Jim runs in after the first inning.
At bat:
And getting annoyed by my taking pictures:
In England, softball is called "Rounders" and the rules are slightly different than in America. I'm not exactly sure of all of the details of the differences, but I did noticed that if you even touch the ball, whether it goes out of the batter's box or not, you can run (instead of it being a foul). There are also some different rules about stealing bases. Whatever the difference, softball in the UK rocks in my opinion.
Anyway, I wandered over to Regent's Park to cheer Jim and his team on. I was the team's only fan and I was meant to be there to give them lots of support, but, unfortunately I found myself laughing really hard at their antics and I don't think I was that supportive at all. Once I accidentally cheered for the wrong team, which is an honest mistake.
Jim's team(not sure what their name is. We will call them the Bad News Bears of Briton- BNBB-for the purposes of this blog) was playing the "Dazzlers," who were a group of artists. The Dazzlers were getting ready for the game by drinking mass quantities of beer and smoking some cigarettes. When I arrived, fifteen minutes after the game was to have started, only three people from BNBB were there. They had been warming up for about 45 minutes and thirty minutes later the rest of the team finally straggled in citing tube troubles.
Unfortunately for the BNBB, things were not looking good. Grounders are not their strong point...and neither is hitting...or catching pop-ups. The Dazzlers, though, really dazzled with a series of cricket-style hits that went through several BNBB legs and a few more hits that caused some near collisions on the field amongst the BNBB. Then, a couple of the Dazzlers had a collision, as one of their runners didn't realize she could keep going after third and her teammate didn't realize she had stopped. They proceeded to both run to home at the same time, stumbled over a bat, and then fell crashing into the middle of all the BNBB backpacks. Meanwhile, one of the BNBB players was injured and lying on the ground. Her teammate, threw a midirected foul back towards the field and missed her head by about an inch.
When the Dazzlers took to the field, things started to look up for the BNBB. The third baseman, donning plaid pants, shaggy hair, and a green shiny jacket, smoked a cigarette and drank a beer as he waited for the runners to come through. The two coaches got into some heated arguments and, at one point, one of the Dazzlers hit a foul, which one of the BNBB (a rugby player in real life) moved to catch. The Dazzler subtly pushed the rugby player so that he missed the ball and the rugby player, in turn, TACKLED the Dazzler batter on his way to first. The fan was ROLLING on the sidelines. This was, by far, the best softball game I have ever watched. I think everyone should play softball like they do in England!
Sadly, the BNBB lost, but not as badly as I had predicted! And afterwards, both teams went out for some pints.
The Bad News Bears of Britain out in the field:
The Dazzlers at bat. This was the guy who was soon to be tackled by the BNBB rugby player (stationed behind him):
Jim runs in after the first inning.
At bat:
And getting annoyed by my taking pictures:
Monday, June 25, 2007
A day at home (or what our weekends look like lately)
Jim's passport is somewhere between here and the U.S. Embassey (AND, just to cover myself, I would like to say that this has nothing to do with the competency or incompetency of the US Embassy, but is only the standard procedure when you live in London and have to get your passport renewed. We are well within the 15 working day period that was stated on the Embassy's website. Long live the US Embassy! Rah Rah! Please don't leave scary responses on our blog!)
Anyway...needless to say, we can't really go out of the country and lately the weather has been so rainy that we've been spending a lot of time at home. Therefore, we don't have any pictures of beautiful scenery and I give you "Jim and Claire at home."
A pretty consistent weekend event is "Jim takes a nap." In the picture below, you can see the typical look on Jim's face when he is trying to settle down for a long weekend nap, read his book, and generally be left alone
and I start to do what I do every weekend: Clean.
Things really get bad if I am cheeky enough to wash the sheets over the weekend when, at any moment, Jim could go horizontal. This is what happens when I am cleaning and you have the nerve, from your comfy position in bed, which you decided to get into AFTER I started vacuuming, to make comments about how you can't relax because I am cleaning. I get triple chins and then proceed to suck your face with the vacuum cleaner. Be afraid.
But the weekend at home is not all about cleaning and napping. It is also about GROCERY SHOPPING! Every weekend we pull out our granny cart and head up the road to try our hand at getting through crowds of determined seniors armed with larger granny carts than we have, canes, and sharp elbows...all in the name of getting some milk and other essentials. Then, we have our weekly argument about whether we are going to walk the half mile back to our house or take the bus. The 'take the bus' argument is pretty weak now that we have the granny cart, but certain parties still feel the need to argue the take the bus cause. This past weekend it was looking pretty stormy, but we braved the elements and went home. Fortunately for the 'let's walk' contingent, the rain held off until right when we walked into the door. Otherwise the bus supporter would have never let the walk supporter forget it. The granny cart suits Jim.
The weather was pretty wet, so we stayed home for the rest of the day. Here is a picture of the rain from our back door:
Usually, Spike the neighbor cat comes to see us in the afternoon/evening, especially since we got some really disgusting smelling kitty treats, but this afternoon he decided to hang out in the rain. He has a patch under the tree in our back yard, where he stays dry.
And then, despite nearly getting poured on and having his naptime interrupted by the vacuum cleaner (and, I have to mention, the neighbor renovating his bathroom downstairs), Jim cooked me dinner anyway. What a good husband!
Anyway...needless to say, we can't really go out of the country and lately the weather has been so rainy that we've been spending a lot of time at home. Therefore, we don't have any pictures of beautiful scenery and I give you "Jim and Claire at home."
A pretty consistent weekend event is "Jim takes a nap." In the picture below, you can see the typical look on Jim's face when he is trying to settle down for a long weekend nap, read his book, and generally be left alone
and I start to do what I do every weekend: Clean.
Things really get bad if I am cheeky enough to wash the sheets over the weekend when, at any moment, Jim could go horizontal. This is what happens when I am cleaning and you have the nerve, from your comfy position in bed, which you decided to get into AFTER I started vacuuming, to make comments about how you can't relax because I am cleaning. I get triple chins and then proceed to suck your face with the vacuum cleaner. Be afraid.
But the weekend at home is not all about cleaning and napping. It is also about GROCERY SHOPPING! Every weekend we pull out our granny cart and head up the road to try our hand at getting through crowds of determined seniors armed with larger granny carts than we have, canes, and sharp elbows...all in the name of getting some milk and other essentials. Then, we have our weekly argument about whether we are going to walk the half mile back to our house or take the bus. The 'take the bus' argument is pretty weak now that we have the granny cart, but certain parties still feel the need to argue the take the bus cause. This past weekend it was looking pretty stormy, but we braved the elements and went home. Fortunately for the 'let's walk' contingent, the rain held off until right when we walked into the door. Otherwise the bus supporter would have never let the walk supporter forget it. The granny cart suits Jim.
The weather was pretty wet, so we stayed home for the rest of the day. Here is a picture of the rain from our back door:
Usually, Spike the neighbor cat comes to see us in the afternoon/evening, especially since we got some really disgusting smelling kitty treats, but this afternoon he decided to hang out in the rain. He has a patch under the tree in our back yard, where he stays dry.
And then, despite nearly getting poured on and having his naptime interrupted by the vacuum cleaner (and, I have to mention, the neighbor renovating his bathroom downstairs), Jim cooked me dinner anyway. What a good husband!
Rage against the TV License
There are many reasons why I don't want to get a TV while we are living in England. I don't want to spend the money since we never know when we'll head back home again. I don't want to spend my evenings parked in front of the screen. I don't think TVs are very aesthetically pleasing and I don't want to find myself gorging on British TV when I could be out experiencing British people and places first hand (although I did get slightly addicted to Eastenders when we were living in Greenwich...that's embarassing. And I do like to watch the music TV channels at the gym...but I digress).
The number one reason I never want to get a TV while we are here is to spite the TV licensing people who are determined to harass us into paying a TV license even though we don't have a TV. So far, we have received FOUR threatening letters and, in response to my letter stating that we don't have a TV, we got another letter that basically said they appreciated us telling them that we don't have a TV, but unfortunately we could be lying so they are going to come check. I say BRING IT ON. I think that they should have to pay me the tax for making my blood pressure rise about once a week! If I were an old lady I would feel afraid!
Down with the TV Licensing people. I'm sure this saga will be continued. I'm just waiting for them to show up for an inspection.
The number one reason I never want to get a TV while we are here is to spite the TV licensing people who are determined to harass us into paying a TV license even though we don't have a TV. So far, we have received FOUR threatening letters and, in response to my letter stating that we don't have a TV, we got another letter that basically said they appreciated us telling them that we don't have a TV, but unfortunately we could be lying so they are going to come check. I say BRING IT ON. I think that they should have to pay me the tax for making my blood pressure rise about once a week! If I were an old lady I would feel afraid!
Down with the TV Licensing people. I'm sure this saga will be continued. I'm just waiting for them to show up for an inspection.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Return of the 80's (again)
The 80s are here again and they have been screaming for their leggings (I want them to take them back, too. Enough leggings already!). ANd now they want their Air Jordans, too. If I could go back and raid my 5th grade closet, I would be very in style.
We've seen these before:
Every other woman in London is wearing these (not an 80's look):
I caved and bought Converse again (for the third time in my life. This time,when they go out of style, I'm boxing them up and saving them until the next time they become popular.) Jim definitely is scoping the Vans.
We've seen these before:
Every other woman in London is wearing these (not an 80's look):
I caved and bought Converse again (for the third time in my life. This time,when they go out of style, I'm boxing them up and saving them until the next time they become popular.) Jim definitely is scoping the Vans.
It's on...again
Last weekend we got new tennis rackets AND discovered that we have some really nice tennis courts very close to our house. This is where we walk to get to the Tennis Courts (Maida Vale Road):
And here is Jim, just before beating me 6-4 on sythetic grass courts. I blame the courts. And the new racket. And...it looked like it was going to rain.
And here is Jim, just before beating me 6-4 on sythetic grass courts. I blame the courts. And the new racket. And...it looked like it was going to rain.
Summer Solstice
Today is the longest day of the year. Here we'll have daylight until about 10:30 pm! On my run home from work (with massive backpack on back...not fun. I'm not sure how often I'll be doing that...) I noticed that there were lots of celebrations going on in Regent's Park. Near my work was the first night of Taste of London--a showcase of restaurants from around London. There were people streaming in! Thursdays are a pretty big night for going out here and things seem to be getting pretty festive now that the days are long and the weather is nice (mostly).
Last weekend, the weather wasn't so nice and Jim was drowning in work, so Aurelie and I decided to forgo our planned country walk and walk around London instead. We chose to join this guy:
a self proclaimed Beatles expert on a stroll through The Beatles' turf (which also happens to be the area where we work...and the area where I live...so nothing too new and exciting really).
Our tour guide is the author of several Beatles books and also the owner of a Beatles coffee shop, where Beatles paraphernalia is sold. I can't really describe his tone and style of talking without doing it, but it was very rehearsed sounding and went from a lower pitch to a higher pitch with carefully timed laughing following his jokes. I think that either he relaxed or I got used to his voice because I only really noticed his lilting style in the beginning of the walk.
We began our walk outside of Marylebone Station, which is where the first scene of that famous Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, took place (you know, the one where they were running down the street with screaming fans chasing them). The guy who stuck his head in the picture was from California and was quite annoying. His girlfriend was from Quebec and overwhelmed Aurelie with personal information in French. The guy, used to having to translate for his girlfriend, insisted on repeating everything that the tour guide was saying, slowly, to me. Instead of reminding him that I, too, speak English, Aurelie and I just edged away:
Needless to say, most of the people on the Beatles tour were American. And more than a few of them were total weirdos.
Here is where Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr got married. Here is also where our tour guide got married. Aurelie was feeling sorry for his wife, but we came to the conclusion that to be married to such a Beatles fanatic, you would have to be somewhat interested yourself.
This was the scandalous picture of John Lennon and Yoko Ono (minus the newspaper covering their nether regions), which led to a drug bust and eventual legal issues later down the line. Behind the tour guide (and also featured in the first picture) is an apartment that Ringo Starr owned and where John Lennon and Yoko lived AFTER Jimi Hendrix and his girlfriend lived there. Many of the people in our group flocked to the steps for a picture. I felt sorry for the people who live there now.
Here is where the Apple Store used to be. I spaced out during part of this explanation, but it used to have psychedelic graffiti art all over it (not approved by the council so it had to be removed) and they also used to sell clothes there,on which the silk tags cost more than the actual clothing. People also regularly stole clothes from the store and eventually the Beatles just opened it up to whoever wanted to take clothes and shut it down. (apparently, they were not the savviest of business men when it came to selling clothes. Mostly they were doing it for the "art.")
Finally we got to the famous Abbey Road Crossing!!!!!!!! We live about 10 minutes from it and I walk past it twice a day every day on my way to work. There are always people flocked around there, taking pictures of each other as they walk across (and dodging traffic). Here is Aurelie with the crosswalk! (it started pouring at that point)
And here is Aurelie in front of Abbey Road Studios, where, if I remember correctly, many famous musicians are currently working on a remake of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
At this point, we ditched the rest of those yahoos and walked back to our house to have a sandwich and regale Jim with our new found Beatles knowledge. Alas, he was out getting fish and chips and, when he got back, was more interested in taking a nap than hearing interesting Beatles trivia.
Last weekend, the weather wasn't so nice and Jim was drowning in work, so Aurelie and I decided to forgo our planned country walk and walk around London instead. We chose to join this guy:
a self proclaimed Beatles expert on a stroll through The Beatles' turf (which also happens to be the area where we work...and the area where I live...so nothing too new and exciting really).
Our tour guide is the author of several Beatles books and also the owner of a Beatles coffee shop, where Beatles paraphernalia is sold. I can't really describe his tone and style of talking without doing it, but it was very rehearsed sounding and went from a lower pitch to a higher pitch with carefully timed laughing following his jokes. I think that either he relaxed or I got used to his voice because I only really noticed his lilting style in the beginning of the walk.
We began our walk outside of Marylebone Station, which is where the first scene of that famous Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, took place (you know, the one where they were running down the street with screaming fans chasing them). The guy who stuck his head in the picture was from California and was quite annoying. His girlfriend was from Quebec and overwhelmed Aurelie with personal information in French. The guy, used to having to translate for his girlfriend, insisted on repeating everything that the tour guide was saying, slowly, to me. Instead of reminding him that I, too, speak English, Aurelie and I just edged away:
Needless to say, most of the people on the Beatles tour were American. And more than a few of them were total weirdos.
Here is where Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr got married. Here is also where our tour guide got married. Aurelie was feeling sorry for his wife, but we came to the conclusion that to be married to such a Beatles fanatic, you would have to be somewhat interested yourself.
This was the scandalous picture of John Lennon and Yoko Ono (minus the newspaper covering their nether regions), which led to a drug bust and eventual legal issues later down the line. Behind the tour guide (and also featured in the first picture) is an apartment that Ringo Starr owned and where John Lennon and Yoko lived AFTER Jimi Hendrix and his girlfriend lived there. Many of the people in our group flocked to the steps for a picture. I felt sorry for the people who live there now.
Here is where the Apple Store used to be. I spaced out during part of this explanation, but it used to have psychedelic graffiti art all over it (not approved by the council so it had to be removed) and they also used to sell clothes there,on which the silk tags cost more than the actual clothing. People also regularly stole clothes from the store and eventually the Beatles just opened it up to whoever wanted to take clothes and shut it down. (apparently, they were not the savviest of business men when it came to selling clothes. Mostly they were doing it for the "art.")
Finally we got to the famous Abbey Road Crossing!!!!!!!! We live about 10 minutes from it and I walk past it twice a day every day on my way to work. There are always people flocked around there, taking pictures of each other as they walk across (and dodging traffic). Here is Aurelie with the crosswalk! (it started pouring at that point)
And here is Aurelie in front of Abbey Road Studios, where, if I remember correctly, many famous musicians are currently working on a remake of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
At this point, we ditched the rest of those yahoos and walked back to our house to have a sandwich and regale Jim with our new found Beatles knowledge. Alas, he was out getting fish and chips and, when he got back, was more interested in taking a nap than hearing interesting Beatles trivia.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Camera phone memories
This morning on my way to work, I saw about fifty horses being moved from one place to another--this time right outside of Regent's park. It's a pretty awesome sight to see all those beautiful horses stopping traffic in the middle of London and it's something I've seen a few times now...but I never have my camera.
Well, it turns out that I DID have a camera: my camera phone. And even though I didn't remember that at the time, I still can share some pictures from times past.
At first Jim didn't really like the camera phone that much. This was the first picture I took with my camera phone!
When we had a hell night on the tube and I broke out the camera, I got a lot of negative vibes from him....
But the key was really to let him be the photographer for a few minutes:
And before I could say, "I love the tube!" Jim was POLE DANCING for the cell phone!
On this night we were standing under Big Ben when it tolled at 9:45.
Sometimes the camera phone takes arty pictures. It's not so good at moving subjects:
And sometimes there are pictures on the camera phone that you just wish had never been taken (Dan, I hope you are reading this blog because this picture proves once and for all that I don't only put unflattering pictures of other people):
The tube seems to be the best place for taking camera phone pictures. Waiting for the tube + Saturday night + a little boredom = INSPIRATION and DANCE!
Not sure what I was looking at in this picture...
Maybe I was looking at Jim...
Well, it turns out that I DID have a camera: my camera phone. And even though I didn't remember that at the time, I still can share some pictures from times past.
At first Jim didn't really like the camera phone that much. This was the first picture I took with my camera phone!
When we had a hell night on the tube and I broke out the camera, I got a lot of negative vibes from him....
But the key was really to let him be the photographer for a few minutes:
And before I could say, "I love the tube!" Jim was POLE DANCING for the cell phone!
On this night we were standing under Big Ben when it tolled at 9:45.
Sometimes the camera phone takes arty pictures. It's not so good at moving subjects:
And sometimes there are pictures on the camera phone that you just wish had never been taken (Dan, I hope you are reading this blog because this picture proves once and for all that I don't only put unflattering pictures of other people):
The tube seems to be the best place for taking camera phone pictures. Waiting for the tube + Saturday night + a little boredom = INSPIRATION and DANCE!
Not sure what I was looking at in this picture...
Maybe I was looking at Jim...
Saturday, June 02, 2007
On smart cars and commuting
Today, as I left work and headed out on my walk home, my co-worker and I discussed the probability of getting run over by a crazed London driver (high) and the respect we have for cities that don't allow people to drive in the center.
I've decided that, along with it's environmental merits, the smart car would be my choice of car in a pedestrian/car collision. I guess a scooter would be ok, too. But, mostly likely, if I get run over in London it's going to be by a black cab. They do stop when they have to (like at cross walks and stop signs), but the rest of the time they are getting where they are going and nothing is going to stop them. Especially not a pedestrian.
Me vs. the Smart Car. Who would win?
There are good points to a three mile each way pedestrian commute, though. Today some of my highlights were:
-2 paddle boats full of women in burkas, racing and laughing hysterically
-4 men in suits, shoes off, kicking a football in the park
-6 little geese following their Mom and being corralled by their Dad when they got out of line.
And we've been married 3 years today. That's the biggest highlight of them all!
I've decided that, along with it's environmental merits, the smart car would be my choice of car in a pedestrian/car collision. I guess a scooter would be ok, too. But, mostly likely, if I get run over in London it's going to be by a black cab. They do stop when they have to (like at cross walks and stop signs), but the rest of the time they are getting where they are going and nothing is going to stop them. Especially not a pedestrian.
Me vs. the Smart Car. Who would win?
There are good points to a three mile each way pedestrian commute, though. Today some of my highlights were:
-2 paddle boats full of women in burkas, racing and laughing hysterically
-4 men in suits, shoes off, kicking a football in the park
-6 little geese following their Mom and being corralled by their Dad when they got out of line.
And we've been married 3 years today. That's the biggest highlight of them all!
Pizza and Little Venice (and Ikea)
This weekend was a pretty mellow weekend and we forgot to take the camera, so all the pictures on this blog were taken by someone else.
On Friday, we went over to Meg and Dan's for homemade pizza and The History Boys. I almost fell asleep, but the movie was actually very good and the pizza was delicious.
Saturday, we explored several new parts of town. I was running the other day and discovered that we have an awesome, if small, park near us: Queen's Park. So Jim and I took a stroll to another part of our neck of the woods. Queen's Park is definitely a family place, with lots of kids and their parents running around everywhere. They also have pitch and putt and tennis courts. If we ever find our rackets/get new ones, we will go play there.
Saturday night, Jim took me on a date to Little Venice, which is also not far from where we live. I've never been to the real Venice, but Little Venice in London defintely reminds me of Amsterdam with its canals and houseboats. We started the evening off in a funky bar near the canals and then walked down to a place called Riverfront (or something like that), where we had dinner. It was actually quite the meat market and we were wedged in at a small table on the edge of all the action. Despite the fact that most of the people there were about our age, we felt very old. I guess it's because we are just so mature. Little Venice was fun, though, even though we weren't part of the "scene."
Here is a picture of Little Venice, which I did not take:
One thing that was very interesting is that once you got along the canal a ways, it became a private drive. And that was where all the fancy schmancy houseboats were. Some looked like floating trailers and some were very ornate. Houseboat culture is something I know nothing about, but it seems kind of bohemian and romantic. And I bet it's a lot cheaper than living in a flat around here.
And finally, today we went to Ikea. I don't really need to go into what Ikea was like because now I know that Ikea is Ikea no matter where in the world you are.
Hopefully we'll have more exciting things to post next time!
On Friday, we went over to Meg and Dan's for homemade pizza and The History Boys. I almost fell asleep, but the movie was actually very good and the pizza was delicious.
Saturday, we explored several new parts of town. I was running the other day and discovered that we have an awesome, if small, park near us: Queen's Park. So Jim and I took a stroll to another part of our neck of the woods. Queen's Park is definitely a family place, with lots of kids and their parents running around everywhere. They also have pitch and putt and tennis courts. If we ever find our rackets/get new ones, we will go play there.
Saturday night, Jim took me on a date to Little Venice, which is also not far from where we live. I've never been to the real Venice, but Little Venice in London defintely reminds me of Amsterdam with its canals and houseboats. We started the evening off in a funky bar near the canals and then walked down to a place called Riverfront (or something like that), where we had dinner. It was actually quite the meat market and we were wedged in at a small table on the edge of all the action. Despite the fact that most of the people there were about our age, we felt very old. I guess it's because we are just so mature. Little Venice was fun, though, even though we weren't part of the "scene."
Here is a picture of Little Venice, which I did not take:
One thing that was very interesting is that once you got along the canal a ways, it became a private drive. And that was where all the fancy schmancy houseboats were. Some looked like floating trailers and some were very ornate. Houseboat culture is something I know nothing about, but it seems kind of bohemian and romantic. And I bet it's a lot cheaper than living in a flat around here.
And finally, today we went to Ikea. I don't really need to go into what Ikea was like because now I know that Ikea is Ikea no matter where in the world you are.
Hopefully we'll have more exciting things to post next time!
oh the drama
So, yesterday they launched the new London 2012 logo. And, of course, everyone hated it. All the papers were full of criticism and derision. Then, today they announced that the moving, flashing version of the logo sets off epileptic seizures. It always seems to go from bad to worse when it comes to the Olympics.
It would be hard to be in charge of anything major in this country because there is always more criticism than support. The more I see it, the more I like this little lego style, 80's flashback logo. Especially in neon green and orange!
We don't like nettles
Another weekend, another hike. This time we took Aurelie along with us! Our friend Vladamir also came with us and he didn't complain the whole time!
Our walk began with a trek through wheat fields. In England all the land is public (or something like that), so you can just walk through peoples' fields and yards and horse pastures with abandon. We did all three of those things on this walk, but walking through a family's yard while the little kid was outside playing was definitely the most awkward part.
The weather was very warm yesterday, so we wore our shorts and man capris. What we didn't anticipate were the innocent looking plants called nettles, which were overgrown throughout our walk. Nettles are evil. With barely a brush, they can set your whole leg on fire, starting with massive itching that then turns into huge whelts. The whelts then go through a series of transformations from burning to itching to feeling like vibrating signals from under your skin. And it seemed like just as things started to feel better, we would run into another patch. Fortunately we ran into some nice women (I think that perhaps they were Amish or something like Amish because they were dressed in modest, plaid frocks and it seemed like there was a community of them living in the area), who showed us a plant to use as an antidote to the nettles. I'm not convinced the plant really worked, but it was still cool to rub "Dock leaves" all over us, just in case.
This walk was a little different, in that the pub stop was only about two miles into it. We started late and then the pub took forever, so when we finally got going it was early afternoon, but we still had about nine miles to go. We weren't worried, though, because it stays light until about 10pm these days, so we had plenty of time to tool through the countryside. Of course, we didn't think that we would be walking that long...
At the pub, Jim would not cooperate with picture taking:
The goal of the walk was to reach a castle. Aurelie, who is French, was very patient with our babbling along in our fast American English. At one point, we were yelling about nettles and she thought we said "castle." She was disappointed that we had only reached more nettles. But there were horses to distract her from her disappointment! Jim and Vladamir, the horse whisperer fed them carrots:
And then they convinced Aurelie to feed them, too:
The yellow horse was greedy but still very cute. We liked those horses.
Just down the hill was the long anticipated castle! We had passed through field and over hill, through nettles and greedy horses and finally there it was!!!
The castle:
Vladimir and Jim decided that the castle was going to be the stopping point for our walk and the plan was to take a cab the rest of the way. By this time it was around 5:00. So we enjoyed the OUTSIDE of the castle (because it closed a few minutes befoer we got there) and then made our way to yet another pub. As fate would have it, there were no cabs in this little town, so, after having settled into the idea of not walking anymore, we had to revive ourselves and make it the rest of the way back on foot.
We got a little lost due to some missing sign posts, but many nettles later we got back on track again, scrambled accross a dilapidated bridge (well, most of us went across), and made our way through an apple orchard, where Jim tried to take a quick nap:
We also were relieved to see this sign, pointing us in the direction of the train:
But then we encountered the beast:
This horse was not having any apples or carrots or US. As we tentatively made our way across his field, he started stomping his foot in a very bull-like way. He made some very agressive snorts and fixed his gaze on Jim's red shirt. Aurelie and I ran. Jim ran, too, although he claims was just pretending to be scared. Uh huh.
Aurelie and I hightail it over the fence!
After the horses, we were amazed to see three hot air balloons taking off into the sky. Aurelie had a great idea and we took the balloon lift off as an opportunity to hid out in the graveyard of a nearby church. As Jim and Vladamir walked by, we jumped out! They screamed like girls. It was awesome.
With the aid of some locals (who also lured V and Jim into yet another pub on our way back to the trainstation), we finally made it back to the train...with about an hour to spare. So, yes, we went to another pub. They had a really nice garden!
Our friend Dan won't let us post pictures of him anymore because he has a reputation to maintain, but Vladimir went out of his way to get on the blog. There were so many pictures to choose from, but this one was definitely the best.
When we finally got home, it was 10:30...whew. It was hard to get up for work today, our legs are still itchy, Jim's eye was swollen shut from some unidentified substance, but it was worth it! I'm waiting for the poison ivy to show up any day now...
Our walk began with a trek through wheat fields. In England all the land is public (or something like that), so you can just walk through peoples' fields and yards and horse pastures with abandon. We did all three of those things on this walk, but walking through a family's yard while the little kid was outside playing was definitely the most awkward part.
The weather was very warm yesterday, so we wore our shorts and man capris. What we didn't anticipate were the innocent looking plants called nettles, which were overgrown throughout our walk. Nettles are evil. With barely a brush, they can set your whole leg on fire, starting with massive itching that then turns into huge whelts. The whelts then go through a series of transformations from burning to itching to feeling like vibrating signals from under your skin. And it seemed like just as things started to feel better, we would run into another patch. Fortunately we ran into some nice women (I think that perhaps they were Amish or something like Amish because they were dressed in modest, plaid frocks and it seemed like there was a community of them living in the area), who showed us a plant to use as an antidote to the nettles. I'm not convinced the plant really worked, but it was still cool to rub "Dock leaves" all over us, just in case.
This walk was a little different, in that the pub stop was only about two miles into it. We started late and then the pub took forever, so when we finally got going it was early afternoon, but we still had about nine miles to go. We weren't worried, though, because it stays light until about 10pm these days, so we had plenty of time to tool through the countryside. Of course, we didn't think that we would be walking that long...
At the pub, Jim would not cooperate with picture taking:
The goal of the walk was to reach a castle. Aurelie, who is French, was very patient with our babbling along in our fast American English. At one point, we were yelling about nettles and she thought we said "castle." She was disappointed that we had only reached more nettles. But there were horses to distract her from her disappointment! Jim and Vladamir, the horse whisperer fed them carrots:
And then they convinced Aurelie to feed them, too:
The yellow horse was greedy but still very cute. We liked those horses.
Just down the hill was the long anticipated castle! We had passed through field and over hill, through nettles and greedy horses and finally there it was!!!
The castle:
Vladimir and Jim decided that the castle was going to be the stopping point for our walk and the plan was to take a cab the rest of the way. By this time it was around 5:00. So we enjoyed the OUTSIDE of the castle (because it closed a few minutes befoer we got there) and then made our way to yet another pub. As fate would have it, there were no cabs in this little town, so, after having settled into the idea of not walking anymore, we had to revive ourselves and make it the rest of the way back on foot.
We got a little lost due to some missing sign posts, but many nettles later we got back on track again, scrambled accross a dilapidated bridge (well, most of us went across), and made our way through an apple orchard, where Jim tried to take a quick nap:
We also were relieved to see this sign, pointing us in the direction of the train:
But then we encountered the beast:
This horse was not having any apples or carrots or US. As we tentatively made our way across his field, he started stomping his foot in a very bull-like way. He made some very agressive snorts and fixed his gaze on Jim's red shirt. Aurelie and I ran. Jim ran, too, although he claims was just pretending to be scared. Uh huh.
Aurelie and I hightail it over the fence!
After the horses, we were amazed to see three hot air balloons taking off into the sky. Aurelie had a great idea and we took the balloon lift off as an opportunity to hid out in the graveyard of a nearby church. As Jim and Vladamir walked by, we jumped out! They screamed like girls. It was awesome.
With the aid of some locals (who also lured V and Jim into yet another pub on our way back to the trainstation), we finally made it back to the train...with about an hour to spare. So, yes, we went to another pub. They had a really nice garden!
Our friend Dan won't let us post pictures of him anymore because he has a reputation to maintain, but Vladimir went out of his way to get on the blog. There were so many pictures to choose from, but this one was definitely the best.
When we finally got home, it was 10:30...whew. It was hard to get up for work today, our legs are still itchy, Jim's eye was swollen shut from some unidentified substance, but it was worth it! I'm waiting for the poison ivy to show up any day now...
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